Masters 2021 preview, picks and predictions

The world's best sixteen players arrived yesterday in Milton Keynes to take part in the first triple crown event of the year, The Masters.

The main question entering this week was how to stop the world number one Judd Trump from winning his second masters title. The only way in fact was found away from the table, as Trump tested positive for COVID 19 and had to withdraw from the tournament alongside Jack Lisowski.

A Poor Field?

If ever there was such a thing as a poor Masters line-up this is it. Of the players who qualified for this event only eight sit in the top sixteen of the one year rankings, resulting in a field which is wide open and hard to predict.

Since the start of the season in September only five men have even made a final, showing how many players are struggling without fans being allowed in arena's. It seems to be the trend that the worlds best (Wilson, Robertson and Trump) seem to be dealing best with the bio-secure environment, which doesn't allow players to see there family and friends whilst playing tournaments.

Shaun Murphy has openly spoken out about the lasting damage coronavirus has had on his mental health. The amount of time he has spent alone in hotel rooms made him "disappear down a wormhole" and he described how it was "soul destroying walking out to an empty arena" every time he played.

Cream to rise to the top

In the 2019 edition of the masters, not 1 of the top 8 seeds made it through the first round, showing what an unpredictable event this can be.

However this year I can see it being a little different, with the impact which the bio-secure environment has had on many of the players . The top side of the draw seems to be the easier of the two, with a Selby vs Robertson quarter final being the most likely result in this section.

Other players in this top half include reigning champion Stuart Bingham, Shaun Murphy and Steven Maguire. All of these players could give anyone a run for their money when at their best and must be treated with respect before writing off their chances of victory.

In the bottom half, things are much tighter to call, with first round matches including Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Ding Jung'hui and John Higgins vs Mark Allen. The Rocket will be looking to pick up his 8th Masters crown but faces a potential route of Ding, John Higgins and 'the warrior' Kyren Wilson. All of these are extremely tough ties and it wouldn't be a surprise to see a few shocks in this section of the draw.

I believe that the form and quality of the players in this section will actually help them in there route to the masters crown, as having to come through three possibly tough matches will ensure that they have to be right on the top of their game to progress through the competition.

In the end I can see the winner coming from this bottom half of the draw and a true battler like Kyren Wilson fits the bill perfectly. He is a previous masters finalist and has a knack of performing best on big stages such as these.

Whatever ends up happening in the coming week, expect some late nights, final frame deciders and some top quality snooker from the best players in the world.